


Home and the Freedom to Love

by Calacious



Series: Comfort in November and December 2020 [15]
Category: Toy Story (Movies)
Genre: Comfortember 2020, First Love, Homesick, M/M, Moving On, Pining, post movies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27784327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calacious/pseuds/Calacious
Summary: Woody longs for home. He longs for Buzz.
Relationships: Buzz Lightyear/Woody Pride, Woody Pride/Bo Peep (past)
Series: Comfort in November and December 2020 [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996825
Comments: 4
Kudos: 47
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	Home and the Freedom to Love

**Author's Note:**

> Written for comfortember 2020's alternate list prompt: Homesickness

Woody isn’t sure when the feeling first set in, but he knows it for what it is. Homesickness. He loves being with Bo Peep. He loves the adventure, but he misses home more. He misses his friends, his family. 

More to the point, he misses Buzz. He misses Buzz’s goofy grins, the way the other toy takes everything so seriously, the way he takes charge when he needs to, and is willing to sacrifice his life for others. 

“To infinity, and beyond,” Woody whispers. 

The world is large. Larger than Andy’s room, and Sid’s backyard, and the other places Woody has been. It’s large, and cold, and he misses home. He misses Buzz, and the way the other toy’s eyes would light up when Woody spoke, or the way he’d swoop in, just in the nick of time, to save the day.

“How you doin’, pardner?” Bo Peep asks, nudging him.

Woody sighs. “I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not,” she says. She’s always been intuitive. Has always known what Woody’s not saying, even when he doesn’t know it himself.

“You miss them,” she says. 

She’s staring up at the stars. The same ones that Woody’s been looking at for what seems an eternity. They’re so small, like little pinpricks in a canvas of black velvet that let the light in. 

“You miss _ him _ ,” she says quieter. 

He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to, because Bo Peep knows, and the stars know, because he’s told them about the ache in his heart that throbs to the beat of Buzz’s name.

Bo Peep reaches for his hand, and squeezes it. “Go to him,” she says. 

“You could come with me,” Woody says, knowing she won’t, but needing to ask. She prefers to live in a world that’s bigger than a child’s room.

“No, that’s one adventure that I can’t take with you,” she says. She kisses him on the cheek. “It’s been nice having you with me, but you don’t look at me the way you used to before he arrived.”

“I’m sorry,” he says.

“Don’t be,” Bo Peeps says. “It’s easy to love those you’re with when you’ve got no one else to compare others by. Besides, I love all of this.” She spreads her arm out to encompass the expanse of the night sky. “And no offense, Woody, I love you, but not more than I love my freedom.”

“I love you,” Woody says. His heart squeezes a little at the thought of losing his first love (outside of Andy), but the thought of seeing Buzz’s smiling face again makes his heart skip a beat with anticipation. 

“I know you do,” Bo Beep says, “or did,” she amends. “It’s okay. Go to him. He’s where your heartis. He’s where your home is now.”

“If you’re sure,” Woody says, hesitant to leave Bo Peep after all she’s done for him.

“It’s what you need to do,” she says. “And if that spaceman doesn’t see what’s been clear as day between the both of you, let me know and I’ll straighten him right out.”

Woody chuckles and adjusts the brim of his hat. He tilts his head back to gaze at the stars one last time with Bo Peep, and tucks his fingers into the loops of his jeans. This is something he’d like to share with Buzz, the toy who thought he came from the stars. 

“Don’t be a stranger,” Bo Peep says, and she places one last kiss on Woody’s cheek, then walks away.

“I won’t,” Woody whispers.

A shooting star soars across the sky, and Woody wishes on it. For the first time since he left with Bo Peep to seek out freedom, he finally feels free. Free of the expectations he placed on himself, free the obligation he felt to Bo Peep, free to be himself.

“I’ll see you soon, Buzz,” Woody says, and then he turns and heads toward home. Toward the love of his life. Toward Buzz.


End file.
